Jacob And Rachel
by turbomagnus
Summary: Mal reaches a different conclusion about how Inara was knocked out and it changes everything. - 'Our Mrs. Reynolds' AU, Mal/Inara.


Disclaimer: "Firefly" and "Serenity" are the creation and property of Joss Whedon and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

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"Jacob and Rachel"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

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 _"Come in."_

 _"Back on course. Be on Beaumonde a day or two late. Hope that's all right."_

 _"Should be fine, thank you. And does the vixen live?"_

 _"Yeah, if you can call it that. All's well, I suppose."_

 _"Yes."_

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"By the way, thanks," Mal remarked casually.

"Might I ask for what?"

"You're a very graceful woman, Inara, there's no way you fell," Mal explained, "Thanks for trying to resucitate me, mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing, you know."

"Oh, that," Inara responded carefully, knowing full well that resucitation had nothing to do with her actions.

"Well, I guess that means I owe you and all for that," he observed, part of him hating to admit that he owed anyone anything anymore, "I'll try to keep us Coreward for a while, let you do business some, that should start evening us out."

"Oh, well, thank you," Inara replied in a tone that Mal couldn't quite place.

"Okay, then," Mal turned and started to leave the shuttle, only...

"Malcolm," the fact that Inara called him by name and by his full name, not simply 'Mal', made him stop in his tracks and turn to face her.

He certainly wasn't prepared for her to cross the shuttle, slide her arms around his neck and kiss him directly on the lips.

"It was more like this," Inara admitted, then she kissed him again.

This time, he kissed back.

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Dawn broke, even if there's no rotation of a planetary body in alignment to a star to actually bring about a dawn when a person is on a ship in the Black, the metaphor still applies. Metaphoric dawn broke and brought with it a new day on _Serenity_. As with many days on _Serenity_ , it involved the ship's passengers and crew gathering for breakfast, though two of the complement were conspicuous in their absence, at least at first.

"Good morning, intrepid crew," Mal announced frighteningly cheerfully as he entered the ship's dining room.

"What did you do?" Jayne snorted, "Hit the bottle to mourn that your 'wife' left you?"

"I guess being single just agrees with him," Wash suggested.

"Hardly," a female voice answered as its owner stepped into the room, "Good morning, all."

As everyone stared at the sight of Inara wearing one of Mal's shirts over her dress, it was Wash who finally managed to find his voice first...

"Well, this changes things," the blond man said in full knowledge of the understatement.

"Tantric Sex is the belief in and art of using sexual intercourse in an attempt to unlock inner power and achieve a higher consciousness," River remarked, "What's for breakfast?"

"I think _they_ already ate," Jayne sniped.

Sheppard Book sat down his drink rather firmly, "If you will all excuse me, I need to go make sure that 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery' hasn't been removed from The Ten Commandments since the last time I looked."

"He was drunk and she was lying, Sheppard," Wash commented, "I'm not sure it would be a binding marriage anyway."

"I am still going to pray for guidence on the matter," Book informed him, standing up to exit the dining room, only to feel a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

"Derrial," Mal said softly, using the Sheppard's Christian name for the first time since they'd met, "Remember the story of Jacob and Rachel?"

A faint smile managed to find its way to Book's lips, "I thought you didn't believe in God or the Bible anymore."

"Doesn't mean I don't still remember some things," Mal answered, "Don't make me work another seven years."

"Well, if the Lord says 'only but to ask and ye shall be forgiven', who am I to say otherwise?" Book shrugged before pulling away from Mal's hand and leaving the room, heart lightened by the fact that it seemed the other man was finally learning...

With Book out of the room, Mal looked around, "What are you lot are staring at? Wash, just who's flying my ship? Kaylee, check the shuttle and make sure Saffron didn't leave us any extra surprises inside... Zoe, hit the Cortex see if we can't find us a job to pay for fixing up _Serenity_ from this little cavalcade of whimsy. The rest of you... try not to kill each other just because you get bored or at least clean up the blood good afterwards."

"What are you going to be doing, Captain?" Zoe asked, knowing full well that an unwatched Malcolm Reynolds was the only thing in the 'Verse that attracted trouble faster than Mal when somebody was keeping an eye on him.

"I'm going to be dealin' with the only things in this 'Verse worse than the Alliance; I have to wave a solicitor to make sure that some documents are legal and loophole free no matter how much anyone might look to try and break them," Mal answered casually.

"Uh-huh, and what kind of documents are those?" Jayne asked, "Just in case they decide to come bite us in our collective asses and all."

"The idea of wood in water having any effects on the coloring of sheep is hard to believe. Selective breeding is far more likely to have been the actual method involved," River remarked, seemingly inattentive to Jayne's comment, "Is a Guild anything like a father?"

Mal looked cautiously at River, sometimes the girl just seemed to know more than he was comfortable with.

"In this case, it might well be," Inara answered River before turning to Jayne, "Long-term exclusive Companionship contract."

Jayne sat in silence for a moment, staring into space as he thought that over; finally, he reached a conclusion, "Hell, I never thought 'respectability' was all that much of a good thing, anyways. I reckon we can get by just fine without any of it."

"I presume this means that rule about shipboard relationships is stricken, sir?" Zoe asked.

"Not that, you know, we followed it anyway," Wash admitted.

Simon looked around at the others, frowning, "I'm sorry, am I missing something here?"

Jayne stood up and slapped Simon on the shoulder, "Come on, rich boy, let's all leave those two to gettin' them something to eat and I'll explain it to ya. Thought you woulda learned all this stuff already in that fancy med school of yours."

"If the thief is Leah and Rachel is here, who are the maids?" River blinked before looking at Jayne, "Don't traumatize him, he's just a doctor, he's never played doctor. Kaylee should do it."

The mechanic perked up, "Can I?"

Mal looked at Inara in despair, "We pretty much just gave them permission to turn my ship into some kind of a domestic scene, didn't we?"

Kaylee grinned as she stood up and walked to the doorway, stopping with a hand on the doorframe to glance back, "Sure sounded that way, Captain - but don't you worry, I'll check the shuttle over good first."

As Kaylee left the room, Inara nodded at Mal, causing him to sigh, "The things I do..."


End file.
